General practice is the cornerstone of successful primary health care and is critical to ensuring a high-quality, equitable and sustainable health system. This is particularly true in rural areas, where GPs are often required to practice an extended scope of medical care, including areas that, in urban settings, would typically be referred to specialists.

The National Rural Generalist Pathway is a dedicated training pathway designed to attract, retain and support rural generalist doctors who provide primary care, emergency medicine and other specialist services in regional, rural and remote areas.

The department engaged AHA to evaluate the implementation of 3 core components of the pathway:

• Component 1: the recognition of rural generalist medicine as a protected title and specialised field of general practice
• Component 2: the establishment or expansion of coordination units for rural generalist training within each jurisdiction
• Component 3: the expansion of rural primary care rotations for prevocational doctors.

The evaluation aimed to assess the short-term outcomes of the pathway and inform future policy direction. This included:

• assessing the implementation of the pathway components
• assessing the appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of the pathway components in meeting the needs of rural generalists to enable them to deliver quality healthcare in rural, remote and regional communities
• identifying any barriers and enablers to the pathway’s implementation and intended outcomes.

To do this, we developed a monitoring and evaluation framework that has long-term utility for the pathway. We also conducted a literature review, analysed rural general practice and training data from multiple sources, and used a variety of methods to consult with a range of stakeholders.

Our final report synthesised this data to analyse overarching barriers and enablers to implementing the pathway; evaluate the implementation, appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of the components; and identify opportunities to build on the pathway’s achievements to ensure it can continue to support rural generalists to meet the needs of Australians in rural and remote areas.